Germany legalises cannabis possession for personal use from April

“Chronic cannabis use makes you stupid, to put it bluntly, and can also cause psychosis,” Thomas Fischbach, president of a German federation of doctors for children and adolescents (BVKJ), told the Die Welt newspaper.
Meanwhile, at Oktoberfest...
The drunken debauchery often leads to fights, aggressive behavior, and bierleichen — so-called "beer corpses," which is what locals call the many passed out drunks lying on the hill behind the tents.
Source
- Cannabis bad doesn't mean alcohol good
  
  No, but here he is trotting out the line about Schizophrenia, which is a real risk, but is dwarfed in its societal impact by the downsides of alcohol. I don't expect he's said anything at all publicly about the impacts of that though, which would suggest that he's the talking head that the German press always contact for a negative comment about cannabis every time it hits the news. Especially as this is reported by Die Welt which is an Axel Springer publication.
  
  That's not even the argument which was being made if that's what you're implying.
  Their argument is simply: why is alcohol legal if it's much more harmful?
  
  okay but the statement he made fits into a societal context such that the overall message being sent by a group of people that have Oktoberfest but make cannabis illegal is absolutely "cannabis bad, alcohol good".
- Well I'm already stupid and psychotic so no harm done
  
  Probably not as selectively stupid as Thomas Fischbach.
- Overuse of cannabis can cause something called cannabis hyperemesis syndrome. You have severe nausea, uncontrolled vomiting, and stomach cramping. It's caused by your nervous system, so people who have it tend to sit in a hot shower for a long time when they don't get relief from anti-nausea meds. Luckily, it clears up pretty quick with a shot of haloperidol, and as long as you cut back you can continue to partake.
  It doesn't affect everybody and usually you have to smoke a lot over a long period of time, but I didn't know about it before and I think people should be aware.
  Happy smoking, frients
- Of course the counter argument to legalisation was published in "Die Welt", the right leaning newspaper from the Springer media group. The group which also publishes the Bild Zeitung which plays a big role in the rise of the far right in Germany and has a history of reckless opinion journalism which even lead to the shooting of a member of the student uprising in the past (Rudy Dutschke if you want to look it up). Fuck everything Springer.
  
  I read the translation of Stefan Aust's book on the Baader-Meinhof and he covers the Rudy Dutschke shooting and also the bit where a Springer editorial praised Savak for beating up students protesting the Shah's visit to Germany. Called them something like 'Jubilant Iranians' if I recall correctly.

At least it takes away one reason for undercover German police to annoy foreigners with their "random" drug tests
- Oh you can and they 100% will it is still heavily regulated: only a certain % thc and not more than 25g. So they can also do a thc quick test and weigh it. Also there is still the argument which they can use that if you take marijuana that means you do other things so please also take a urine test.. What I'm saying is that very eager cops can and will continue to annoy people
  
  It would at least help if they stop assuming the only reason a foreigner from the free west would come through Germany is to sell weed.
- First time I hear that, happend to you?
  
  Hahaha happens to many people who have brown skin or look like a punk or hippie in the eyes of some cop.
  My dad used to wear a black leather vest and long hair. He was searched uncountable times.
- Wait, what now? Do they walk around making tourists piss in cups if they look like they smoked weed?
  
  They make you empty your pockets and pat you down.
  They look like gangsters claiming to be police, don't even show a badge until you ask for it, they want all your stuff, like your wallet, to search through it.
- Well Floris-Jan it might just be you. Do you happen to look like a drug dealer?
  
  Not at all :) But I suppose it was obvious I was a tourist

German city in Abril
- An old classic

Fuck, now I gotta buy cannabis from someone name April for it to be legal?
My dealers name is fucking Gus Gutenburg. How many people are even named April in Germany? Probably not a lot. I hate our parliament.
- There's a reason a certain green teenage pizza loving group made friends with her
- Bro just put his plug on blast
- Hey it's me ur april

Is this real legalization like in Canada, or fake legalization like most other places?
If a tourist can't buy it from a store, fly to a different city/state domestically with it, and then smoke it at a designated airport smoking area outside the terminal... I struggle to see that as full 'legalization'.
If you are prohibited from doing all those things, it just seems like a different version of prohibition. Step in the right direction though, sure.
- The issues here are largely with the EU which stops it from being sold in stores. For now, possession is legalised and you can have all previous arrests made because you were carrying up to 25g permanently removed from your record. It also legal to grow at home.
  In this sense, it is legal for personal use but not for commercial use. To get access to weed, they will be rolling out "cannabis social clubs" in summer in which you need to be a member to be allowed to buy weed. These clubs are not allowed to make a profit. There is a plan to later do some tests with commercial usage but its not clear where that is on the roadmap.
  It will be interesting to see if this will have any effects on the EU. I can imagine if more countries want to support the legalization that some hurdles can be removed there.
  
  Then what about the Netherlands where all of that is legal?
  Can't Germany use that as an angle?
  
  Would be cool if they said fuck you to the EU.
  People kept worrying about Canada breaking a UN rule but Canada said fuck it and did it anyway.
- Baby steps!

April fools.
- I think it's a real shame that 4/20 is when it is. I'm not sure millions of Germans toking up for a celebration on Hitler's birthday will go over well. 😂
- Can we expect one less weapons factory for any open weed store? 😄
  
  I’m 21 and think this is profound
  
  Hell no.
  
  I sure hope not

Lol this article describes the law very poorly. From a club you can get up to 25 grams a day, for up to a maximum of 50 a month.
- Thats nonsense. 25g is the general limit of what you are allowed to have on your person outside of your home starting april. 50g is what you can have while at home. So basically 25g to carry around + 25g stored somewhere at home.
  The whole thing with the cannabis growing clubs is something coming later this year. These will mostly be about getting seeds, saplings and advice.
  
  That's still quite a lot. I thought less tbh, at least on your person.
  
  Yes, what you're saying doesn't negate what I'm saying, and viceversa 😅
  I'm just saying the article makes it look like you'll be able to get 25 grams a day with no further restriction, and that's not true. That among other issues with the article.
  
  I can already get seeds and advice, the clubs will locations where they grow for all members.
- Are edibles a thing in Germany or just flower? I can’t smoke but Im really good at eating gummy bears. Haribo needs to corner this market.
  
  They're a thing as long as you make them. There's not gonna be commercial cannabis

I honestly don't think legalising is the best path looking at SF, California reporting after harm reduction campaign. Maybe empathetic rehabilitation.
- empathetic rehabilitation.
  From what? Pot addiction? Lmao?
  
  Yes. While cannabis is unproblematic to most users, some cannabis users experience substance abuse disorders that are hurting their health and social relations. They should receive qualified and empathetic care, not condemnation and criminalisation.
- Legalization is the first step in harm reduction. While it is still illegal it is much harder for people get help.
- If you have underlying issues with anxiety and paranoia, adding marijuana to the mix exacerbates these issues greatly and becomes a poor crutch for dealing with them. I've seen friends and family who smoked 2-3x weekly for a few years develop eyebrow-raising mental problems. So I tend to agree.
  Personal anecdote, N=4.
  (Yeah of course, alcohol is just as bad, or worse in extreme cases, but people can usually sense the damage being done to them by it afterwards. Pot's effects are internal. It's hard to reflect until it's too late.)
  
  So legalize it and put effort into treating addictions and mental illnesses. This isn't very hard.
  Yeah of course, alcohol is just as bad, or worse in extreme cases
  Most if not all cases. Cannabis is objectively less dangerous in practically every way.
  Pot's effects are internal
  And alcohol's effects aren't?
  
  Buddy the other option here is not them managing to deal with it, psych health care in germany is abysmally absent, it's becoming alcoholics
- https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/ep-200-the-rise-of-the-war-on-drugs-20-this-time-its-different-we-promise
- looking at SF, California
  There are a number of US states that have legalized it sooner and more thoroughly than California (not to mention Germany). What did SF specifically do?
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZu61OgITE
  I Investigated the City that Pays You to Do Drugs...

Yay, Germany gets to smell like skunk and be full of mentally fried idiots. Whoop-dee-frickin-doo.
- Except that hasn't really happened anywhere else weed has been legalized, so not sure why you'd think that when there's demonstrable evidence to the contrary.
- keep assuming legalization will lead to disaster no matter how many times it doesn't
- Whoop-dee-frickin-doo.
  Holy shit shut up
- Still better than smelling of alcohol and piss, the mentally fried idiots you already have.
- Hey smartass Germans have been getting faded for a while, it's been de facto decriminalized for years (aside from in B*vria). Go to any major German city in the past decade or two and you'd smell it as fast as in Cali. If you spent a day in Berlin you'd smell it on the clock lmao
- You obviously aren’t fun.
- I don't smoke pot, I don't like the smell, I had edibles like twice in my life, and don't plan on repeating the experience.
  I still think that there is little logical reason to forbid people from consuming, and that it is especially hypocritical to do so while alcohol and tobacco are legal, and freely available.
  
  For the record, I hate alcohol and tobacco just as much and think we should have stuck with Prohibition. No mind-altering substances should be legal.
- Have you been watching “Reefer Madness” and thinking it’s a documentary? Spoiler: it isn’t.
- @ChallengeApathy @nekandro
  Man I love the smell of fresh cannabis in the morning. Never gets old.
- How is this different from today.
- Potheads getting triggered because people don't support their disgusting habit never gets old.
  
  please go the fuck back to reddit, i promise absolutely no one wants your nerd ass here
  
  The most boomer shit I've seen on lemmy yet lmao. Reefer madness ass take.
  
  How can you ever use nazi parlance which downplays trauma and not see yourself as the bad guy.